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Deconstructing another Palestinian Blood Libel
Frustrated in their genocidal efforts to destroy the Israel by force of arms, the Palestinian Arabs have resorted to a relentless propaganda war aimed at demonizing and delegitimizing the Jewish State. To that end, they have engaged in multiple instances of egregious evidence fabrication and have employed sympathetic and near-sycophantic journalists to peddle their doctored evidence. On past occasions, Palestinians have been known to resurrect the dead as well as employ photos of grievously injured civilians wounded in contexts unrelated to the conflict, claiming that their mortal injuries were the result of Israeli strikes. And of course, who among us can forget the notorious al-Dura hoax.
Constitutional expert and Mideast analyst Alan Dershowits once noted that “A lie makes it all the way around the world and the truth – which is often less interesting than the lie – makes it to the bottom of a Google search.” Unfortunately, Dershowitz is correct in his analysis. Outrageous claims of Israeli brutality are often splashed across the headlines in sensationalist fashion, while half-hearted corrections are buried somewhere on page 5. The damage is done and never completely rectified thus slowly chipping away at Israel’s image abroad.
The latest Palestinian invention involves the recent deaths of two Palestinian militants near Ofer prison, purportedly at the hands of Israeli security forces. Central to the Palestinian claim is that Israeli security forces used live fire against Palestinians who appeared to have posed no threat. The anti-Israel NGO “Defence for Children International Palestine” released a heavily edited video that purports to show the event. DCIP has a poor track record of impartiality and even a poorer record of truth telling. As noted by CiF Watch, DCIP continues to propagate the Jenin massacre fraud and as reported by the Algemeiner, maintains a penchant for fabricating stories.
The Palestinian Authority’s useful Idiot media allies, disregarding all norms of source vetting, immediately went into high gear adopting the Palestinian narrative lock, stock and barrel. The rabidly anti-Israel Robert Mackey of the New York Times wrote a one-sided review that dispensed with any semblance of impartiality. CNN released its own video footage “proving” that Israel used live fire against the protestors. The radical leftist blog and Palestinian propaganda outlet Mondoweiss championed CNN for its “terrific account” of events and Mackey gleefully posted the CNN link on his Twitter feed.
Unfortunately for the propagandists and assorted haters, CNN’s footage is actually exculpatory. Ballistic experts and tactical arms specialists who have examined the footage note conspicuous problems that wholly undermine the Palestinian narrative. First, at 1:53 of the video, the precise time that one of the militants was purportedly shot with live fire, a soldier is seen firing a rifle with an attachment that prevents usage of live fire rounds and only enables the usage of rubber bullets. The attachment elongates the barrel and gives the weapon an unmistakable, distinctive profile. There is therefore, absolutely no doubt that the soldier fired a rubber coated round. Second, at 3:22 of the clip, the boy’s father produces what appears to be a 5.56mm round in relatively good condition and states that the round had passed through his son’s chest and was stopped by books in his knapsack. However, the experts noted that had that been the case, the recovered bullet would have been mangled and deformed.
Of course facts are irrelevant to the issue. The video released by DCIP has already had over 560,000 hits and the Palestinian propaganda apparatus with help from the likes of Robert Mackey and other yellow journalists will make sure that their skewed narrative continues to remain in the headlines. As Alan Dershowitz correctly notes, the truth is regrettably less interesting than the lie. Consequently, in the court of world opinion, the Jewish State will remain guilty regardless of the evidence.